6. Cast...dress...prom...Vanquish...Edward!!!!

Walking up to the door of the church I was about to pull it open when Jacob ran ahead of me and opened it for me. Stupid werewolf! You would think that I couldn’t do anything for myself. I walked through the door with my mother in tow and Jacob following behind us. I was walking into the main domain of the church where most of the guests were already seated. There was an usher at the door.

“Excuse me miss,” he politely stopped me from entering, “may I please see your invitation?” he asked me. Shit! I didn’t have one. I looked back at my mother.

“Here you go, sir,” she handed him what I assumed was the invitation.

“Mrs. Renee Dwyer, and three guests.” He read off the card. “Where is your third guest, ma’am?” he asked, looking back up at her.

“He should be here already. Could you check for me?”

“The name, ma’am?”

“Phil Dwyer,” she gave him my step-father’s name.

“Yes, ma’am, he’s already been checked in. He’s in the third pew on the left, you and your other two guests may proceed to sit next to him,” he told us. We walked up the aisle until we reached the third row from the front. Phil was sitting in the pew trying to save the seats for us. He looked up when he heard us approaching. His face broke out into a huge smile when he spotted my mom. Then he looked behind her to see me and he smiled even wider, and got up to hug us. He hugged my mom, and then he moved onto me.

“Bella! I’m so glad that you could make it! I didn’t think you were going to be able to! You look beautiful, as always” he hugged me tightly and commented on my attire. Then he let go and looked behind me. His eyes got wide. Take in all of Jacob was kind of a little bit overwhelming. He was huge, after all. Jacob stuck out his hand; a wide grin was prominent on his handsome face. Phil took Jake’s hand and shook it.

“Phil, this is Jacob Black, he’s my – boyfriend.” I only hesitated for about two seconds. I don’t think that anyone noticed it besides me. Jake was my boyfriend. It just felt a little bit weird introducing Jake as my boyfriend. I had gotten so used to introducing…him.

Phil let me and Jacob slide into the pew. I let Jake go first, and then I sat down next to him. My mother sat on my other side, and Phil sat on the end. The music began and I turned to watch the flower girl sprinkling flower petals along the aisle. Then the Maid of Honor came along on the arm of the Best Man, and then two other groomsmen, and bridesmaids. Then the traditional wedding march spread throughout the room. The back doors opened once more and the bride and her father proceeded to glide down the red carpet aisle. Passing over the red, white and yellow rose petals, they walked to the altar, where the groom was waiting. His eyes lit up as soon as the bride walked into the room. It was clear to everyone in this room that they were deeply in love. The bride was already on the verge of tears. I looked back and forth between the bride and the groom. The groom was all eyes for his bride and he mouthed ‘I love you’ to her. The tears that had been threatening to spill over her eyes finally did so. They were streaming down her face. Then I was zoning out. My mother’s friend wasn’t on her father’s arm. It was me. I was walking towards the altar, on my father’s arm. I was crying, while gliding towards Jacob. He was smiling at me and mouthing to me that he loved me. My mind sped through the ceremony and we were already at the part where we were to say I do. Jacob and I were married!

There was a lot of clapping and I jumped out of my reverie and looked around me. Jacob was looking at me. His eyes were questioning whether I was alright or not. I shook my head slightly to let him know that nothing was wrong. I looked back up at the altar and the bride and groom had linked their arms together and was walking into the crowd to give hugs, and receive their congratulations.

My mom grabbed my hand and pulled Jacob and I through the crowd. We finally reached the parking lot. Phil ran to his car and the rest of us ran to my mothers. We all got into the escort and my mom followed Phil out of the parking lot.

“Um, mom?” I looked at her like she was crazy. “What we aren’t going to stay and congratulate them?”

“No, we’ll do that at the reception.” She answered me without taking her eyes off of the road. We drove for maybe ten minutes and then I saw Phil turn into another parking lot. The building that it belonged to was a hall; this is where the reception was going to be at. I heard Jacob gasp in the back.

“What’s wrong Jake?” I asked him, twisting around in my seat to look at him. He pointed to a car that was already here. Of course it was going to be a car. “So what Jake, it’s just a stupid car,” I told him.

“That is not a ‘stupid’ car, Bells! That is a Vanquish.” He told me, his eyes were wide and I think he was going into shock. But then something happened in my mind. It felt like someone was trying to light a lighter that was almost out of lighter fluid. The flame would come up so quick you couldn’t even be sure that it was there, and then it was gone. My mind was trying to make me remember something. Something to do with what Jacob said. What did he say? ‘That is a Vanquish,’ It has something to do with that, but what? I couldn’t place it, but something was nagging me in the back of my mind. My mother parked and she got out. Once again, Jake was opening my door before I could hardly even get my seat belt off. When I did, he offered me his hand, and I took it. He kept my hand in his as we walked into the hall. It was decorated in white for the wedding reception. There were mints on all of the tables and name and address cards. This way the bride and groom could send thank you cards to everyone without having to look up the addresses again. Tiny bells were at every place setting.

“Bella, what are all of the bells for?” Jacob asked me. He looked down at me with curiousness in his eyes.

Jacob was so naïve. I laughed a little to myself. “Whenever someone wants the bride and groom to kiss, they usually bang their silverware on the tables. But sometimes, they provide an alternative, like bells. So, people just ring the bells when they want them to. Or when they already are, people ring the bells to egg them on.” I explained to my naïve boyfriend. He was so cute when he was ignorant. At least in this way, he was.

I looked at the place settings. They were beautiful. The plates were real and everything. Jacob was behind me. I could feel his heat. He snaked his arms around my waist and pulled my back to his chest. He leaned his head down and rested it on my shoulder. He turned his head slightly so that he could better reach my ear. His mouth was at my ear, and I could hear his heavy breathing. His teeth gently came down on the cartilage of my ear. My stomach did a small flip. I sighed quietly and his arms tightened around my waist.

“I love you, Isabella Marie Swan,” he whispered in my ear. My knees buckled and he had to hold me up. I put weight on my legs to see if I could stand up, and I could, but I felt that if I actually tried to walk I might not fare so well. Then I heard a door open. I tried to turn my head to look over Jacob’s shoulder, but it didn’t work so well. My head just hit pure muscle.

I moved out of Jacobs arms and looked towards the entrance. My mother was strutting forward as if she were on the world’s longest cat walk. She headed towards the door that led into the kitchen. I watched as she slowed to a stop about four steps into the room. She back tracked and looked at me and Jake.

She eyed Jake for a few seconds and said, “I want muscle man to help me carry the food out to the tables. Bella, I want you to start greeting the guests with Phil. I nodded to my mother and turned towards the exit/entrance. I was walking briskly when someone grabbed my hand and twirled me around again. My face smacked into Jacob’s chest. Talk about solid.

“You look beautiful, Bells. I didn’t think I’d ever be able to see you in a dress again. At least this time you’re not wearing a cast,” he said laughingly. He gave me a chaste kiss on the lips and walked gracefully into the kitchen to help my mother. When did he see me in a dress? My cast… Prom! Oh, I wish he didn’t have to see me with a cast on and in a dress. Then, it felt like a light bulb was being lit inside my brain. Cast…dress…prom….Vanquish…Edward!!!!!! Oh my God, that couldn’t be Edward’s Vanquish. No, no, no, no. It couldn’t be.

I had to prove to myself that that car did not belong to Edward. I walked straight past Phil who was greeting the first guests that had already arrived. I walked towards the Vanquish. I could see someone sitting in the driver’s seat. It was obviously a man, and I could tell through the tinted window that whoever this man was, his hair was in disarray. I dreaded who I would find inside the car. I walked up to the door and knocked sharply on the window. The window rolled down agonizingly slowly. I was looking into the face of a man, that I had absolutely no idea who he was. He was a complete stranger.

“I – I’m sorry, I thought you were someone else. If you’ll just excuse me….I’ll be over – bye!” I was completely humiliated. But at least I knew that the car did not belong to Edward. At least I knew that Edward was not following me, was not pursuing me. I walked back to the front door of the building and stood by Phil.

“What was all that about, Bella?” he asked me in a conversational tone.

“I – I thought it was someone I knew, but I guess I was…wrong.” I told him most of the truth.

“I see,” he mused. “Well, I see a throng of people headed our way. Put on a smile and let’s get through this so we can finally just sit down and enjoy the reception,” he said plastered a fake smile on his face that said ‘I wouldn’t be doing this if I had the choice. My wife put me up to this,” I had to bite the inside of my cheek to prevent myself from laughing at Phil. I shook hand after hand after hand. I never really knew what people meant by the fact that if you smile so much it begins to hurt. After today though, I finally know that that is the absolute truth. My face hurt from smiling. I no longer actually knew if I was smiling or not, considering my face was numb.

Finally the last guest was greeted and now it was time for Phil to announce the bride and groom as they walked into the room. I quickly went in and found Jacob and my mother. Jake stood up and pulled my chair out. He turned it around for me so I could see the procession and he put his arms around my torso and hugged me gently.